Son of murdered Pakistani liberal outraged as cleric who inspired assassin is allowed to speak in UK

A vicious Muslim cleric who has incited to murder is welcomed into the UK to speak. But I’m banned. Robert Spencer is banned. But Muslims calling for the beheading of those who stand against the brutal sharia are welcome.

The son of a liberal Pakistani politician murdered for his moderate views has criticised Home Secretary Theresa May for allowing a radical Islamist cleric, who inspired the assassin, to enter the UK to preach.

Here a devout Muslim cleric calling for the beheading of those who criticize or offend Islam. Here is a cleric calling for the murder of “blasphemers.” “The home secretary does have the power to exclude people entering the UK if there is a public safety issue, and in this case there does appear to be a public safety issue.”

The Home Secretary did not ban this murderous inciter. She banned me. She banned Robert Spencer. We have never called for violence, let alone murder. We have never preached supremacism, bigotry or hate. We stand in defense of individual rights, freedom of speech and freedom of conscience. That will get you banned in the Islamic Kingdom.

“Son of murdered Pakistani liberal outraged as cleric who inspired assassin is allowed to speak in UK,” By Tom Porter, IBTimes, May 5, 2016 (thanks to Christian):

The son of a liberal Pakistani politician murdered for his moderate views has criticised Home Secretary Theresa May for allowing a radical Islamist cleric, who inspired the assasin, to enter the UK to preach.

Mufti Muhammad Hanif Qureshi spoke at a Luton mosque on Thursday May 4 as part of an event at the Jamia Islamia Ghousia Trust. A spokesman for the mosque confirmed Mufti Qureshi had made a “very, very impressive” speech to an audience of hundreds.

[the_ad id=”77189″]

In 2011 politician Salmaan Taseer, who opposed Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy laws, was shot dead by his bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri. After his arrest, Qadri claimed he had been inspired to act by a 2010 sermon delivered by Mufti Qureshi in Rawalpindi, in which the cleric branded the likes of Taseer as liable to be killed under Islamic law.

Qureshi was arrested after Taseer’s murder, but was not charged and subsequently released on bail. Qadri was sentenced to death for the murder, but in public sermons Qureshi continued to defend the assassin before he was hung in January 2016.

The home secretary can stop people entering the UK if she believes there is a threat to national security, public order or the safety of citizens.

Taseer’s son, Shehryar, criticised UK authorities for allowing Qureshi to visit.

“He has in particular incited Mumtaz Qadri to murder my father. There is footage of that.

“What annoys me is how easy it is for him to manipulate the system, and I see him doing the same thing in going to the UK. He is not going there for a vacation, I am sure about that.”

He said it was urgent the Home Office ban him travelling to Britain because of growing sectarianism in the UK “and growing trouble and violence in Europe as well. When someone gets a visa to the UK it is pretty easy to get visas to other big countries as well. These people should be confined. Why is this man allowed to travel abroad?”

A poster for an event at the Jamia Islamia Ghousia Trust in Luton on 4 May advertises Mufti Muhammad Hanif Qureshi “arriving exclusively from Pakistan” as a speaker.

The Luton mosque’s senior cleric, Allama Qazi Abdul Aziz Chishti, defended the decision to invite Qureshi to speak, saying he has renounced his hardline views.

“Let me make it very clear to you that he has changed his views, and his speech was very, very impressive last night [4 May], and he made very clear that he believes that Islam is a religion of love and peace and harmony. Anyone who is killing innocent people is nothing to do with Islam,” said Mr Chishti.

When asked whether the mosque backed the views Qureshi has expressed, Chishti said: “While we are living in this country we have got our own views. We are very clear we have got our own views and are living in accordance with the laws of this country.”

Shehryar Taseer commented: “The rhetoric changes for the English-speaking media, and for Urdu speaking people it changes and becomes the opposite. It is easy for them [hardliners] to jump back and forth.”

Qureshi is the founder of Shabab e-Islami, a religious organisation headquartered in Rawalpindi, which describes itself on its website as working “to promote peace, tolerance, interfaith harmony and education, tackle extremism and terrorism, engage with young Muslims for religious moderation, promote women’s rights, development and empowerment”.

Supporters of the group have held rallies in Pakistan in support of Qadri. Qureshi has been advertised as a speaker at the Luton mosque since 2014, with a number of recordings of sermons he delivered at the institution in Urdu available online.

Among the events he is advertised to speak at is the “36th annual” Khatme Nabuwwat meeting at the mosque. Branches of the Khatme Nubuwwat (Finality of the Prophet) movement have been implicated in the violent persecution of members of the Ahmadi religious sect in the UK and Pakistan.

In the Rawalpindi speech that inspired Qadri, Qureshi called on Sunni Muslims to kill those such as Taseer opposed to blasphemy laws.

“Let them know those who consider Sunnis as cowards that Allah has honoured us with the courage and power to strangulate those involved in blasphemy, to cut out their tongues, and to riddle their bodies with bullets. For this, nobody can arrest us under any law,” said Qureshi in a recording of the sermon available on YouTube.

In March, Ahmadi shopkeeper Asad Shah was murdered in Glasgow, with his killer, Tanveer Ahmed, claiming he acted as Shah “disrespected” Islam. After the murder a Facebook page was set up, in which Ahmed was praised, alongside Qadri.

The Luton mosque is a registered charity, and in March Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe visited to discuss “the fight against Daesh (Isis)” with Chishtli, according to a posting on the institution’s website.

Rupert Sutton, an expert of domestic extremism at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, told IBTimes UK: “The fact is that [Qureshi] does have a clear record of inciting sectarian violence, which I think the Pakistanis have arrested him for in the past. Given the current climate following the murder of Asad Shah, it is very surprising there has not been more scrutiny of his invitation and of a registered charity inviting him to speak.

“The home secretary does have the power to exclude people entering the UK if there is a public safety issue, and in this case there does appear to be a public safety issue.”

Spokesman Michael Charouneau said that the Home Office does not comment on individual cases.

“The Home Secretary has the power to exclude a foreign national if she believes their presence in the UK would not be conducive to the public good,” he added.

IBTimes UK has attempted to reach Qureshi for comment.

The Truth Must be Told

Your contribution supports independent journalism

Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more.

Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible.

Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too.

Please contribute here.

or

Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.

• $25.00 here
• $50.00 here
• $75.00 here
• $100.00 here
• $250.00 here

0 0 votes

Article Rating

5 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

alan triplett

7 years ago

Quite simply, the Quran teaches Muslim supremacy, hatred of non-Muslims and hostility towards all who reject Islam. Islam is an ideology- a set of ideas, it is not defined by what others, or any Muslim wants it to be, but by what IT IS. No ideology is ABOVE critique – particularly one that explicitly seeks political and social dominance over every person on the planet. As an ideology, Islam is not entitled to equal respect and acceptance as other faiths because Islam is intolerant and not peaceful, but hateful and violent. Islam is what Islam does and all honest people will condemn it as uncivilized and ungodly.

0

the_dhimminator

7 years ago

“…The son of a __liberal__ Pakistani politician”

sorry they got that wrong. He spoke out against Islam. He was a right-wing
conservative Islamophobe.

Cut from the exact same cloth as conservatives calling for the murder of an Afghan film star who was photographed sans hijab. The reporter is not up with the latest CNN/BBC doublespeak, obviously…

0

Mahou Shoujo

7 years ago

england is governed by fools, who submit to islam, Write the place off, it is rapidly becoming the palestine of europe.

0

Drew the Infidel

7 years ago

Remember the good ol’ days and the cultural litmus test of having “redeeming social value”?

0

JC Bond

7 years ago

their all tha same. whad you acpect?

0